ST. GEORGE – It took 75-year-old Don Campbell 20 days to travel the 300 miles from Sandy to St. George.

While most people would travel in an airline or a car, Campbell decided to walk the hundreds of miles — his journey ended at the St. George Tabernacle.

Campbell — who has had a double knee replacement surgery, survived melanoma cancer, and had a toe on his right foot surgically removed due to the melanoma — said the reason for his trek simply was to reconnect with his religious roots.

“My motivation was the early Mormon pioneers who came across the plain in the 1850s,” Campbell said as he walked through Hurricane on Saturday morning. “I felt I needed to reconnect a little bit to my heritage. I want to get a feeling of what my ancestors went through.”

Campbell said the early pioneers “of course had a lot more of a difficult time” than he has, but he has “had some wonderful experiences” along the way.

“People have been helping me out, giving me food and water,” Campbell said. “Three different people have given me money for lunch, and people have bought me dinner or cooked me breakfast. It seems like whenever I needed help, there has been an angel of mercy stationed along the road to help me out.”

Campbell decided to make the walk in December 2013, and his idea was met with some discouragement. Despite several people telling him he was “too old” or “not healthy enough” to walk the distance, Campbell walked out of his home on April 28, said goodbye to his wife, Chris, and walked straight into the spring snow storm pushing a stroller with his tent and other necessities for the road.

“I walked through rain, snow and wind,” Campbell said. “Wind has been the most difficult thing so far. The wind kind of blows you off course, sometimes like the wind of life. I probably walk between 2.5 and 3 miles per hour, and sometimes the wind would be blowing so hard in my face that I could barely move.”

Campbell traveled down U.S. 89 through Ephraim, Salina and Panguitch before taking state Route 9 through Zion National Park. He began in Hurricane on Saturday, walking down Telegraph until he reached St. George.

A 1960 graduate of what used to be Dixie College, Campbell decided to conclude his journey at the St. George Tabernacle because he attended a state conference in the Tabernacle in 1960.

“When I went to Dixie College, my bishop asked me two or three times to go on a mission, and I said no,” Campbell said. “In April or May of 1960, I attended a state conference at the Tabernacle, and there was a return Mormon missionary giving a talk. All of a sudden it hit me: I needed to go on a mission. I went on a mission to Scotland, and it’s been a guide for me in life.”

Campbell said he hopes that through his story, people will learn that they can accomplish anything if they set their mind to it.

“I’m hopeful that people will learn that, if they set their minds to it, they can reach their goal, regardless of what other people are telling them,” Campbell said. “You can’t believe how many people told me I was ‘too old’ and ‘you cannot go that far,’ but I can.”